The Thai Pirate - Thai Blog and Travel Stories

Send him back

Two years jail is a fair sentence I reckon, if anything, it's too lenient.

Entertain this scenario.

Gordon Brown and his wife are accused of corruption, and of using their political status for personal gain. It is suspected that she has committed tax fraud (to the tune of a modest 8.2m), whilst he is accused of 1. arranging soft loans to Burma to benefit his family's telecoms business and 2. buying up large areas of London at a third of the normal price.

Browns wife's tax case is heard first. She is found guilty in a British court, with the judge stating "The defendant (Browns wife) was not only supposed to behave herself as a good citizen, she was also meant to be a good role model as the wife of the prime minister." Fair enough.

She is freed on bail pending an appeal. Both Brown and his wife go public and say they will 'definitely' be attending Brown's trial (a week later), as they are innocent and have nothing to fear blah blah etc etc.

Brown and his wife then fly to China, so they can see the start of the 'Olympics', how nice. However, Brown and his wife don't return to the UK. Shock horror! No. Instead, they decide it would be a very good idea indeed to ignore their legal obligations, skip bail, and catch a connecting flight to Thailand! Where they cannot be extradited! Ha ha, good idea!

Brown then proceeds to cry about the UK court findings (which would have been OK, if only they found the mrs innocent), and pours scorn on the UK's legal system, and seeks 'asylum' in Thailand.

However, he nonetheless still see's himself fit to continue to dictate policy (!), party appointments (!) AND make political manoeuvres and decisions (!) for the governing party back in Blighty!

None of the labour politicians have the cohones to speak out against him, and CONTINUE to run the UK under Brown's RULE, and in his absence!!! You couldn't make it up!

Brown is later found guilty of purchasing land in London for 'mates rates' (a crime that isn't hard to prove) and is given a two year sentence (in his absence).

But he doesnt have much to worry about, because, Thailand houses people pretty much 'willy nilly' once they claim 'asylum'. So, Brown is free to continue to operate as he pleases, running the UK from abroad, whilst not answering himself to the legal obligations everybody else has to abide by (lets face it folks, 'beacon of the poor', or not, he was on the take.)

I want to be a politician when I grow up, they can do anything!

Can you see why so many Thai's are annoyed? I wonder how us Brits would react if our PM was guilty of corruption on many levels, but still calling the shots from a foreign country? There would probably be mass protests and scenes of violence on the streets I think.

All said and done, if I were Thaksin, I would consider coming back. He would probably do six months (not including other cases, yet to be heard), and arise a more experienced and formidable political player.....Something to think about eh, Mr Thaksin.

The Princess Diana Coffee Shop in Suphanburi province

Some shameless plugging now for our little coffee shop and restaurant situated on Highway 340 (click for map here).

Basically, if you are a fan of Princess Diana, you should visit the 'Tee Coffee Shop' (thats it's name). Mere (mum-in-law) is absolutely in love with Princess Diana, and has dedicated large portions of the shop to her. There are around 50-60 framed photos showing Diana at all stages of her life, plus, there are dozens of books about the British Royal Family, the marriage with Prince Charles, William and Harry, a near enough complete history (albeit most of it written or edited by that James Whittaker bloke (photos of shop here)

There is also a large room full of photos of the King of Thailand and Thai Royal Family. Again, the photos are all from different periods, and offer a very interesting overview of the King's life in pictures.

On top of all this wonderful history, our resident head chef, Phi Dim, is without question the best chef in the region (!). If you stop by for a bite, you will want seconds. The coffee isn't bad either, freshly made, if you are a coffee lover, you won't be disappointed.

Another interesting point, the company I now work for, Pornchai Gardens, are offering free seeds and plants to families, schools and temples in order to encourage everyone to take more care of the environment and all Thai communities as a whole. If you are interested in helping the 'Thai Seedling Donation Project,' feel free to drop me an email (the project is dedicated to the memory of the monks Loung Ta Juan, Loung Por Bouy and Princess Diana). Plants and seeds can be requested at the Tee Coffee Shop.

View more photos of the coffee shop here.

Being the lucky sod that I am, I'm now off to Pattaya and Phuket for a week or so with the family (parents are flying out for a holiday) so hasta la vista for now. TTP.

In search of the 'Da Go Wahd' (big Thai lizard)

Peering out of my little office window t'other day, I saw something moving across the lawn. This thing was big, longer than a dog, and it was creeping it's way towards some water that runs along the outside of the house.

I couldn't help myself and tried to get a close up pic. Its movements were slow at first, I thought I would easily be able to run up behind it and get a shot with the camera, but as soon as I left the office and made towards it, it must have clocked me, as it began moving, and boy when it moved, it really moved!

It's movements were deliberate and purposeful, and as I tried to catch him, I thought, 'do I r-e-a-l-l-y want to be any closer to this thing'. As it began to run, his legs rose up unnaturally high, sort of like a running 'front crawl'. Had he stopped and turned to size me up, I would have probably ended up running in the other direction.

But on this occasion he was obviously more spooked than I was. He actually ended up doing a Hollywood dive head-first into the water in order to get away from me. Lucky really.

I was glad the dogs never caught sight of him, but thinking about it, I know they would have thought twice. The mysterious qualities, and size, that these lizards have would keep even the dumbest mutt's at a distance (er... myself included).

I have since found out that this type of lizard is known as the 'monitor lizard'. A cousin of the komodo, they are a carnivorous bunch that are extremely intelligent, apparently they are able to 'count'. They are also known to co-operate when it comes to foraging for food, as one will often lure away a female croc, whilst another raids its eggs. Thousands of years practice at play.

When it rains heavily in Thailand, they are often displaced and you see quite a few on and around the roads. Its very bad luck to run them over, so when 'up country,' don't follow other drivers 'too' close, as the Thai's are likely to make an extra effort to avoid killing them.

I actually took a photo of another monitor lizard a few weeks ago, after heavy rain, and you can see more clearly from this picture that they really do get to quite a size....

 

Wan Oak Pun Sa - Buddhist celebration

On Wednesday, we were up at the crack of dawn to attend the Buddhist celebration 'Wan Oak Pun Sa' (don't think I've spelt it right).

I know little about the reasons behind the celebration, but lots of Thai's all over the country travel to their local Wat to donate food to the monks. As you can see from the picture (left), the Thai's form a walkway early in the A.M and wait. As the celebration commences, a cart with a Buddha at the centre (above pic) is pushed down the walkway and past the crowds, who reach over and give food, cartons of drink and rice grain.

A procession of monks follows after the cart, also collecting donations.

(Should have gone to specsavers) The crowds then move into the covered area of the Wat, and rice that has been cooked and prepared is spooned into bowls positioned along a long table. If there are several of you in your party, one person will dish out the rice, whilst the others in the party will touch the 'spooner' with both hands, so that all are joined.

The rice and the food donated are said to be passed onto ancestors and passed relatives.

Always impresses me how the Thai's are still so connected to their religion and beliefs.

Its really nice to see these communities so bonded.

The Thai Pirate meets the Mayor of Suphanburi

Pulled into our little coffee shop in Sri Prachan last week to be met by 3-4 Thai plod poking around. Slightly apprehensive, I wandered inside to find the Mayor of Suphanburi sitting there, having a quiet cup of coffee with Por (father in law).

Not everyday you get to meet a Mayor; he spoke very good English and seemed a thoroughly nice bloke (obviously he's been reading the blog and wanted to meet me in person, though he never mentioned it).

I quickly took the opportunity to get this picture of me, Mayor, Por and Sutiya.

If anybody reading this is planning a trip to Suphanburi province, and fancies some real, fresh, iced coffee (or tea), be sure to ping me a mail for directions (the food is v good as well!).